Is this an ad or a reel? How skitvertising is redefining storytelling
Skitvertising is the internet’s smoothest soft-sell. It feels authentic, especially when it’s delivered through the voice of a creator that audiences already trust
There was a time you could spot an ad a mile away. Dramatic lighting, a slow pan to the product, someone looking straight into the camera and saying, “This changed my life.” Scroll.
But now? You’re three jokes deep into a reel, you’ve met someone’s fictional mother-in-law, there’s a punchline about mangoes—and only then do you realise: oh damn, that was an ad?
Welcome to the golden age of skitvertising, where content creators deliver brand messages wrapped in sketches, sarcasm, and a sprinkle of chaos. It’s the art of making you laugh first and sell later (or sometimes, never outrightly sell at all). In a world of ad fatigue and scroll-speed judgment, skitvertising doesn’t knock on the door. It sneaks in, sits on your couch, and makes itself at home.
Comedian and content creator Samay Raina has emerged as a standout in the skitvertising game. Whether he’s plugging Bold Care or cheekily roasting the idea of a 90-second reel for KFC while still promoting KFC, Raina turns every brand brief into a comedy sketch that feels like something he’d post anyway. The tone is light, the humor is self-aware, and the brand integration? Smooth as butter chicken.
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Then there’s Kusha Kapila, the queen of characters. Whether she’s hyping up Big Basket or dropping Maybelline’s Vinyl Lipstick with that iconic smirk, the brand becomes part of her world, not the other way around. She doesn’t force it. She embodies it, weaving it seamlessly into funny friend group sketches or hilariously awkward situations.
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Srishti Garg and Srishti Dixit are also carving out a strong space in the skitvertising scene, turning the everyday into something exaggerated, quirky, and memorable. Whether it's CeraVe or Real Juice, Glance or anything else, they don’t oversell. They just do their thing, and the product tags along for the ride.
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We’ve also seen Ashish Chanchlani bring his signature sketch comedy style to Lenskart, narrating “first-time glasses moments” through his loud-and-lovable characters. It’s personal, punchy, and perfectly platformed. And let’s not forget CRED’s now-legendary skit-style ad featuring Rahul Dravid, aka ‘Indiranagar ka Gunda’. It wasn’t just a brand film; it was a viral moment quoted by everyone from meme pages to the Bengaluru Traffic Police. The format? Classic skit: absurd premise, deadpan delivery, and a knowing wink to the audience.
Skitvertising works because it doesn’t feel like advertising, it feels like content. These sketches blend so naturally into a creator’s feed that viewers don’t immediately clock them as brand collabs. Indian audiences, especially Gen Z and millennials, are quick to scroll past anything that screams “ad”. But when a reel kicks off with a funny roommate argument or a chaotic sibling fight, they stay. By the time the product enters the scene, quietly, often as a punchline or clever solution, they’re already emotionally invested.
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Unlike old-school ads that sell to you from second one, skitvertising earns your attention first. It’s emotionally intelligent, too, pulling from real life and everyday characters to create scenes that are either hilarious, painfully relatable, or just absurd enough to share. And that’s the trick: these reels aren’t just watchable, they’re rewatchable.'
They’re sent in group chats, tagged in comments, quoted in conversations. And when people share them, the product becomes part of the joke, not the interruption. The soft-sell approach feels authentic, especially when it’s in the voice of a creator people trust. It doesn’t shout “buy now!”, it whispers, “this might actually be useful.” For a cluttered content economy, that’s not just a win, it’s a strategy.
Skitvertising isn’t a trend, it’s a blueprint. As brand collaborations move away from polished perfection and toward creator-led chaos (the good kind), we’re going to see even more sketches disguised as reels, and reels disguised as reality. Because let’s be honest, if the ad makes you laugh, you won’t skip it. You’ll probably even share it. Maybe with a caption like, “Me fr.”
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